The culture of imbecility By Hossam Badrawi

Hossam Badrawi examines the unfortunate state of the culture and offers solutions

In this day and age, the culture of tafaha, that is, mediocracy, triviality, frivolity or indeed imbecility, has imposed itself in an unprecedented manner on various aspects of social, cultural, and media life. I preferred “imbecility” over other translations of tafaha, which can be defined as a tendency towards superficial, light, and empty topics, favouring what is easily consumable over serious issues and important subjects. This phenomenon is not just a passing coincidence; it has become part of the daily life of many people.

The reasons for the spread of imbecility are numerous. The most important is the proliferation of visual media and social networking sites, which have shifted focus away from deep content to quick, short entertainment. Many prefer consuming short videos and superficial content that doesn’t require deep thinking. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok glorify empty simplicity at the expense of knowledge and analysis, despite the potential to use them to deepen culture in other ways.

Added to this is the desire for quick fame, as rapid success has become a goal pursued by many, especially the young. In the age of social media, anyone can achieve fleeting fame without the need for real skills or accomplishments. It’s enough to present superficial or controversial content to attract followers and gain exposure.

In some societies, educational systems have started focusing on quick results and functional skills at the expense of critical thinking and engagement with deep ideas. Teaching young people the values of inquiry and investigation is neglected, leading to generations that lack intellectual depth.

In the face of globalisation and increasing competitiveness, many feel pressured to keep up with popular trends, or trending content. It is easy for an individual to be drawn into trivial content just to belong to a group or out of fear of being different.

When imbecility becomes the dominant standard, individuals are less inclined to engage in critical thinking or delve into issues of significance. They prefer quick indoctrination and superficial opinions without any attempt to understand or analyse.

The widespread prevalence of such triviality results in a decline in the level of cultural and societal dialogue. Instead of discussing core issues like justice, freedom, and development, people become preoccupied with marginal matters, scandals, and entertainment content that adds nothing to collective awareness.

The widespread culture of imbecility leads to the erosion of the cultural identity of societies. When people lean towards imitating superficial models and randomly importing popular Western values, they weaken their ties to their authentic heritage and values.

Triviality is also linked to consumerism, where individuals are encouraged to be preoccupied with appearances and empty material things promoted by cultural and entertainment industries. The person becomes merely a consumer of products and content, far from any kind of creativity or intellectual production.

Is there a way to confront the culture of imbecility? Yes. But it requires political and social leadership with enough cultural depth to understand the dangers of imbecility and its spread. Educational systems can play a significant role in combating triviality by promoting critical thinking skills and encouraging reading and scientific research. School and university life should encourage intellectual curiosity, community participation, sports, art, and deep dialogue.

The media can contribute to this by offering cultural and awareness programmes that address intellectual and social issues in depth. Supporting the arts, literature, and cultural production that aims to present deep insights and analysis of society and humanity can serve as an important alternative to the superficial content dominating the media landscape.

Each individual can also contribute to countering the culture of imbecility by controlling the content they consume. Instead of following superficial and consumer content, one can turn to what nourishes the mind and contributes to building knowledge.

The spread of the culture of imbecility poses a real challenge to modern societies, weakening the quality of cultural dialogue and promoting superficiality in thought and behaviour. We must all strive to change this by focusing on intellectual depth and meaningful cultural production, and by resisting the temptations of superficialities that may seem alluring in the short term but are devoid of any real value.

In this context, my friend Raouf Roushdi wrote me a wonderful letter entitled, “A Very Trivial Article,” in which he says:

“You cannot wake up one morning and say to yourself: from now on, I am going to be trivial… That is very difficult… Believe me. Imbecility is not a direction; it is a lifestyle. You must live by it from a young age. Those who enjoy swimming near the shore will get bored of diving in deep waters. It is, in short, a stunted mental and emotional growth from the age of five, from the pre-school phase. You think you need to be angry, aggressive, superficial, random, and ostentatious to enter the magical world of triviality. But this might not work either, as imbecility is essentially a talent and needs honing like other talents. You must have the innate readiness to be a conformist. It is an instinctive, noble sense of choosing your foolish sources of knowledge, and there is no excuse, as the Egyptian media has not fallen short in this regard for decades…”

Canadian writer Alain Deneault, in his famous book The System of Imbecility, writes: “The trivial have won the battle in our times. The era of values and truth has changed; the trivial have seized everything with all their triviality and corruption. When high values and principles are absent, programmed corruption—taste, morals, and values—floats to the surface. It is the era of low-class scoundrels. The deeper a person sinks into vulgarity, the more fame and popularity they gain. Social media has succeeded in symbolising the trivial, allowing any silly beauty or empty handsome person to impose themselves on the viewers…”

In a blog post Professor Sobhi Al-Magiri says, “imbecility has begun to dominate daily life, consuming much of people’s mental effort. You find people spending most of their time debating trivial issues such as the best shirt, the most stylish sneakers, the latest fashion trends, and the most beautiful self-presentation. The trivial have become role models for the coming generations, and the world is now threatened by the perpetuation of imbecility’s dominance.”